Shared risk

SHANGHAI: China is struggling to restore confidence in its stock markets, which are being weighed down by a massive amount of shares that have been pledged as collateral as credit-starved companies seek to raise funds.Analysts say the practice, which involves 10 percent of total outstanding shares, is a minefield for an economy already battling slowing growth and a trade war with the United States.Tight credit markets in China means that many companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, have scarce recourse to banks or other sources of financing, and policymakers have yet to promise any actual money.Many of those companies have turned to pledging shares to finance companies as a way of raising cash."Using pledged shares to borrow has become a very popular, and very important funding tool," said Wang Jin, a Shanghai-based lawyer who is dealing with an increasing number of disputes involving collateralized loans.About US$620 billion worth of Chinese shares currently trading … [Read more...] about Slump persists, China fails to stimulate markets hobbled by pledged shares

Amid growing confidence of a global economic rebound and better domestic growth prospects, the 2018 investment outlook should not ignore downside factors that could hinder the long-run growth momentum. Structural challenges from policy uncertainties among the world's economic superpowers and saturating trade and investment flows through global value chains may cast more shadows over the local and global economy than the recovering numbers reveal. Over the past seven decades after the Second World War, the world economy has been characterised by increasingly integrated flows of goods, services, capital, people and, lately, data and information. This process has been further accelerated as multinational firms offshore outsource their activities across organisational and geographical boundaries, expanding flows of international investment in both developed and emerging economies.Such integration has been driven partly by the underlying principles of economic liberalisation undertaken … [Read more...] about Global investment risk levels on rise

Asian shares hit historic highs on Monday as Wall Street extended its record-breaking run, while the U.S. dollar remained on the defensive as investors priced in the risk of tighter policies elsewhere in the rich world.Activity was restrained somewhat as a U.S. holiday curbed trade in cash Treasuries, though E-Mini futures for the S&P500 still made gains of 0.22 percent.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6 percent, having finally cleared the former all-time top of 591.50 from late 2007.Australia’s main index firmed 0.2 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei added 0.3 percent.Stocks in Hong Kong jumped 0.9 percent to another record. Investors were optimistic that Chinese gross domestic product data for the December quarter due on Thursday would show growth of at least 6.7 percent for the world’s second biggest economy.Wall Street was on a roll as the fourth-quarter earnings season kicked off with solid results from banks and robust … [Read more...] about Asia shares hit historic high, dollar on defensive

Making steady progress, the internationally funded International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) has announced that it will begin experimenting in producing fusion energy via the same processes as our sun around 2035. Yet, there are fears that the move will be eclipsed by recent developments by private companies, which have invested massively with the hope of commercialising fusion energy decades ahead of bureaucratically run ITER. There are concerns that the private sector's developments may affect the delicate geopolitics of fusion. ITER was announced in 1985 as a Reagan–Gorbachev initiative to promote peace via an endeavour that no one country could afford: a tokamak "donut" design fusion reactor. Despite fears that the Russians would essentially steal US technology, cooperation went ahead. Building a working coalition took years, with the US opting out in 1999, only to re-join in 2003. Canada, an initial member, left because of spiralling costs in 2003. Still, ITER … [Read more...] about Geopolitics of fusion at risk in reactor saga

FCA says it has “serious concern” about the “contract for difference” (CFD) industry after a year-long review. Watchdog says firms are not doing enough to safeguard customers in an industry where 78% of people lose money. FCA tells firms to improve their practices or face action in a letter the CEOs. The stock of CFD providers Plus500, IG Group, and CMC Markets all down on the news. LONDON – Britain’s top financial regulator has put the “contract for difference” (CFD) industry on notice, warning CEOs to improve their practices or risk action from the watchdog. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on Wednesday published the results of its year-long review of the CFD industry, which targets ordinary investors with “high-risk, complex” products, the FCA said. Both CFDs and spread bets are short-term wagers on whether a stock, currency, index, … [Read more...] about Britain’s financial watchdog has ‘serious concern’ about a ‘high-risk, complex’ corner of the market